Egyptian Museum visitors down 70%, boom in virtual content

(ANSA) - TURIN, DEC 30 - Visitors have dropped by over 70% at Turin's Egyptian Museum during 185 open days as the museum was closed for 180 days due to the coronavirus epidemic, the institution said on Wednesday. However, online activity has increased significantly with nearly 568,000 new users on the website and growth on social media - up 38% on Instagram and 1,345 on Youtube, the museum added.
    Overall, the institution closed a difficult 2020 for culture with 241,139 visitors.
    ''Thanks to everyone's support we are ready to restart and to welcome the public as soon as possible into our rooms during a 2021 which we hope will truly mark a new beginning'', said Evelina Christillin, president of the Egyptian Museum.
    The museum's director, Christian Greco, said that ''thanks to the development of new exhibition projects, we are ready to integrate the tour and we will be able to offer stimulating new things to those who will finally visit in person so that the museum can truly be once again everyone's home''.
    The drop in visits was compensated by the success registered online. For example, the initiative 'Le passeggiate del direttore' (the director's walks) were viewed in their digital version by over one million and 170,000 users.
    Also successful was the new format #Aks2Curators, with some 10,000 views for each appointment, and the program for children, 'Stelevisione', with over 56,000 views.
    Over 47,000 clicks were registered for the virtual tour of the show 'Archeologia Invisibile' (invisible archaeology). (ANSA).